Skip to content

Exception Tracking Spreadsheet (TicklerTrax™)
Downloaded by more than 1,000 bankers. Free Excel spreadsheet to help you track missing and expiring documents for credit and loans, deposits, trusts, and more. Visualize your exception data in interactive charts and graphs. Provided by bank technology vendor, AccuSystems. Download TicklerTrax for free.

Click Now!


Top Story Technology Related

03/19/2024

Two lenders fined $59M; falsely promised fast PPP application processing

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday reported it has taken action against two companies – Biz2Credit and Womply – that made false promises to small businesses seeking to take part in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), delaying and sometimes preventing them from obtaining funds they needed to keep their businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The companies have agreed to settle the FTC’s charges against them: Biz2Credit will pay $33 million and Womply will pay $26 million to the FTC for small businesses harmed by their deceptive conduct. These are the largest damages amounts ever secured by the agency under Section 19 of the FTC Act, and include money consumers lost because of the companies’ conduct, even if consumers made no payments directly to the companies.

Biz2Credit, Inc., and its subsidiary, Itria Ventures, have agreed to pay $33 million in damages to settle the Commission’s charges that they deceptively advertised that consumers’ emergency PPP loan applications would be processed in an average of 10-14 business days when, in reality, the average processing took well over a month. The FTC’s complaint that Biz2Credit’s application processing was riddled with delays, and the average processing time was double what the defendants claimed, with tens of thousands of consumers waiting more than two months for a final determination. Even though they were aware of these delays, the defendants continued to make their false timing claims to consumers until nearly the end of the program. The FTC’s complaint also says that Biz2Credit unfairly ignored many consumers’ repeated and urgent pleas to withdraw their loan applications. As a result, the defendants delayed and sometimes even prevented these consumers from obtaining PPP funds elsewhere.

Womply and its CEO, Toby Scammell, have agreed to pay $26 million to settle FTC charges they preyed on small businesses in desperate need of PPP funding. The FTC’s complaint alleges they widely advertised that small businesses – particularly one-person businesses like gig workers – could successfully get PPP funding when they applied through Womply. The complaint charges, however, that more than 60 percent of Womply applications never resulted in funding. Womply and Scammell allegedly also advertised that their automated processes and good customer service would help small businesses secure PPP loans fast. In fact, applicants regularly faced significant issues that slowed down or fully hindered their applications and were often unable to receive customer service assistance they were promised, according to the complaint.

03/15/2024

OCC Office Hours in San Francisco announced

The OCC has announced its Office of Financial Technology (OFT) will hold Office Hours in San Francisco, May 21-22, 2024, to promote responsible innovation in the federal banking system.

Office Hours are one-on-one meetings with OCC’s OFT staff to discuss financial technology (fintech), new products or services, partnering with a bank or fintech company, or other matters related to responsible innovation in the federal banking system. OCC staff will provide feedback and respond to questions. Each meeting will be scheduled for 50 minutes.

Information on how to request a meeting is available on the OCC's Office Hours Event page. To be considered, submit a request by March 30, 2024. The OCC will provide specific meeting times to selected participants following a review of all requests.

03/15/2024

Fed and OCC fine JPMorgan Chase $348.2M for inadequate monitoring

The Federal Reserve Board yesterday announced it has issued an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co., and fined the firm approximately $98.2 million for an inadequate program for monitoring firm and client trading activities for market misconduct. The Board's action requires JPMorgan Chase to review and take corrective action to address the firm's inadequate monitoring practices, which occurred between 2014 and 2023.

The Board's action was taken in coordination with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The penalties announced by the Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency total approximately $348.2 million.

The OCC's assessment of a $250 million civil money penalty against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. was also announced yesterday. The OCC reported it found that the bank operated with gaps in trading venue coverage and without adequate data controls required to maintain an effective trade surveillance program.

Generally, trading venues are systems or electronic platforms, operated by investment firms or market operators, that bring together multiple third party buying or selling interests in financial instruments to perform a transaction. The OCC expects banks to perform trade surveillance to monitor the market conduct of its traders and clients as part of its market conduct risk control framework. The OCC found that the bank failed to surveil billions of instances of trading activity on at least 30 global trading venues. These gaps and deficiencies in the bank’s trade surveillance program constitute unsafe or unsound banking practices.

03/13/2024

Hsu discusses operational resilience

The OCC has reported that Acting Comptroller Michael J. Hsu yesterday discussed the importance of operational resiliency in remarks at the Institute of International Bankers Annual Washington Conference.

In his remarks, Mr. Hsu discussed the growing risks of disruptions that may impede the provision of financial services or adversely impact systems. He also discussed considerations to strengthen operational resiliency requirements for large banks with critical operations, including third party service providers.

03/08/2024

FTC issues extends telemarketing fraud protections to businesses

The Federal Trade Commission has announced a final rule extending telemarketing fraud protections to businesses and updating the rule’s recordkeeping requirements in light of developments in technology and the marketplace. The Commission also announced a proposed rule that would provide the agency with significant new tools to combat tech support scams.

The final rule will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register with compliance with one provision delayed until 180 days after publication.

There will be a 60-day comment period on the proposed rule following its Federal Register publication.

03/06/2024

U.S. targets Intellexa Consortium and others

The Department of the Treasury has reported that OFAC has designated two individuals and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium for their role in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target Americans, including U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy experts.

For the names and identification information of the designated parties, see this BankersOnline OFAC Update.

02/28/2024

Owners of Automators AI money-making scheme settle with FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that the owners of a money-making scheme that claimed to use artificial intelligence to boost earnings for consumers’ e-commerce storefronts have agreed to surrender millions in assets to settle the FTC’s case against them. In addition, all the businesses and two of their owners face a lifetime ban on selling business opportunities or coaching programs involving ecommerce stores.

In a case filed in August 2023, the FTC charged that Roman Cresto, John Cresto, and Andrew Chapman, along with multiple companies they controlled, including Automators AI, Empire Ecommerce, and Onyx Distribution, deceived consumers with unfounded promises of “passive investment income” in online storefronts supposedly powered by AI.

In its complaint, the FTC charged that the defendants offered consumers high returns from profitable e-stores. The defendants also offered to teach consumers how to successfully set up and manage e-stores on Amazon and Walmart themselves using a “proven system” and the powers of artificial intelligence. The FTC alleged, however, that the vast majority of the defendants’ clients did not make the promised earnings or even recoup their sizable investment. Instead, most lost significant amounts of money, and Amazon and Walmart routinely suspended, blocked, or terminated the stores that defendants operated for their clients for repeated policy violations.

The orders contain a total monetary judgment of $21,765,902.65, which is partially suspended based on the defendants’ inability to pay the full amount. If the defendants are found to have lied to the FTC about their financial status, the full judgment would be immediately payable.

02/23/2024

Hsu discusses consolidated supervision of crypto-asset intermediaries

The OCC reports that Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu yesterday offered remarks to the Financial Stability Board’s Crypto Working Group.

In his remarks, Mr. Hsu shared his perspective on the importance of coordination and collaboration on the supervision of global institutions, particularly with regard to crypto-asset activities. He also discussed the relationship between crypto and tokenization.

02/22/2024

Hsu on banking and commerce

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu yesterday discussed banking and commerce, regulatory effectiveness, and financial stability in remarks at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

In his remarks, Mr. Hsu discussed the blurring of the lines between banking and commerce in payments and private credit/equity, and how this might lead to financial instability. He also offered thoughts on the potential for the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s recently adopted analytic framework to identify and address financial stability risks as they emerge.

02/21/2024

FTC final rule on impersonation of government and businesses

The Federal Trade Commission has finalized its Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses (16 C.F.R. Part 461), which prohibits the impersonation of government, businesses, and their officials or agents in interstate commerce as deceptive or unfair acts or practices.

The new rule will become effective 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

The FTC has also issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that would, if finalized as proposed, amend the amend the new rule to revise its title, add a prohibition on the impersonation of individuals, and extend liability for violations of the rule to parties who provide goods and services with knowledge or reason to know that those goods or services will be used in impersonations of the kind that are themselves unlawful under the Rule.

In its press release announcing the rule on impersonation of government and businesses and the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend the rule, the FTC said it is proposing the amendments in light of surging complaints around impersonation fraud, as well as public outcry about the harms caused to consumers and to impersonated individuals. The Commission said that “emerging technology – including AI-generated deepfakes – threatens to turbocharge this scourge, and the FTC is committed to using all of its tools to detect, deter, and halt impersonation fraud.”

Comments on the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking will be accepted for 60 days after Federal Register publication.

Pages

Training View All

Penalties View All

Search Top Stories